The Aftermath
by miseradreamer
Summary: After Sunnydale sunk into the ground, the Scoobies and new slayers find themselves stranded at a motel while they wait for Giles to return with the bus. Cramped in close quarters, everyone gets a little stir crazy. Buffy/Faith, Faith/Dawn, Dawn/Xander
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I had a plan for this, but once I started writing it took a completely different direction. Originally this was just going to be Faith/Buffy, but somehow I ended up writing some Dawn/Faith etc (To be seen more in later chapters). Hope you enjoy anyway. I'll update as I can, but I'm writing exams all next week so don't expect another chapter for at least a week.**

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><p>"Man down! Man down," Xander wailed, as his gun slipped from his hands and he clutched frantically at his chest. His knees buckled beneath him and he sunk heavily to the ground as he gasped for each laboured breath. "Tell my parents… I love them."<p>

"You're such a sore loser, Xand," Dawn rolled her eyes, but giggled all the same. "And you don't even like your parents."

"Haven't you ever heard the expression, 'let the handicapped person win'," Xander moped, pointing to his eye patch as he rose to his feet, and placed the gun back in the arcade game holster.

"Nope," Dawn shrugged, putting her plastic gun in its own holster.

"Besides, it's hard to aim with only one eye," Xander continued, following Buffy's not-so-little sister as she eyed the motel's poor excuse for an arcade room.

"That's how they do it in the movies," she replied, absently tapping the blue and red buttons on a Street Fighter game.

"Yeah, well maybe I favoured the eye I lost," he countered folding his arms across his chest.

"Did not," she fought back half heartedly, bending down to insert a quarter into a Terminator pinball game.

"Did-," Xander began but the next word got lost as his eye caught on the youngest of the Summers' behind. Instinctively he brought up both hands to cover his eyes, even though one was already covered by a pirate-esque eyepatch, and he fought to keep the dirty thoughts from entering his mind.

_She's only seventeen. She's only seventeen. She's Buffy's little sister. Buffy can crumple you into a ball with one hand – if she'd ever come out of her room._

"How's Buffy doing," Xander asked softly, knowing the absence of her sister was wearing on Dawn, even though she was doing a very good job of hiding it.

Dawn paused a second longer than needed as she pulled the plunger back and shrugged as she let it go, bringing the ball into play. She kept her attention focused on the game as she replied, "I've seen her just as much as you have. So, not at all."

"I guess she's still trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life," Xander suggested, regretting that he had brought the topic up. He really did not want to defend Buffy's recent decision to lock herself in her motel room and cut herself off from everyone, but on the other hand, Xander did figure that she deserved some alone time.

"It's been a week since she's left that crappy room," Dawn growled in a low voice, hitting the buttons controlling the flippers a little harder than necessary. "She's putting everyone else's lives on hold too. All these girls depend on her now. It's not like the world is safe now that we blew up Sunnydale."

"I guess that's why she's taking the extra time to think things through," Xander sighed, leaning against the pinball machine beside Dawn's. "I mean, a year ago she only had to look after you. Now she's got at least fifty slayers, not slayers-in-training, but real and true, full, red-blooded slayers and they are all looking to her for guidance and a new one finds us everyday. She's about to embark on something that's going to affect the rest of her life. I think these past seven years are really all starting to sink in to her poor little head. She's fought the baddest of the bad, she's fallen in love with the baddest of the bad, she's lost more loved ones than I have fingers and she's died and come back to life more than Elvis. She needs some time to process it all and come into the mindset where she is ready to move on and devote her life to this new cause."

Dawn kicked the machine as her last ball fell through the drain and she turned and leaned back against the machine mimicking Xander's stance, "I know. I get it. It's just – and I know I'm being selfish here – but I'm tired of staying in this seedy motel. I'm seventeen and I've barely gotten my first kiss and it was with a vampire! I want a life. I want to graduate from school and have real friends, not Buffy's, no offense."

"Oh why would that be offensive," Xander pouted, "It's cause I only have one eye isn't it."

"Stop it about your eye," Dawn smiled slightly and gave him a soft punch on the arm, "I like the eye patch. It makes you look dangerous."

"Really," Xander blushed, "Dangerous. I like that."

"Maybe even," Dawn paused and bit her lip, "Sexy pirate."

"You think," he whispered, his blush extending to the tips of his ears.

"Xand, you macking on the lil-miss of the Summers'," Faith interrupted, leaning in the door way, arms crossed with one eyebrow raised.

"What?" Xander jumped, standing up straight and laughing nervously, "Course not, she's like twelve."

"Seventeen," Dawn whined, and punched him in the arm again, this time with full force.

"Ow," Xander howled in pain, grasping his injured arm.

"It makes sense that the girl made from B would inherit her massive hormones," Faith chuckled and Dawn opened her mouth to protest again, but Faith continued before she could, "But that doesn't mean you can take advantage of her. Maybe I should let B know 'bout this."

"No, no," Xander exclaimed, raising his hands in defense. "We don't need to involve B -uffy."

He gave Dawn an apologetic nod and then quickly slid past Faith and out of the arcade.

"Thanks a lot," Dawn growled, giving Faith her best angry glare.

"Trust me, lil D, I'm doing ya a favour," Faith said with a wink, "He isn't much in the sack."

"Yeah, well I heard different," countered Dawn, feeling the need to defend Xander's manhood.

"What, from the vengeance demon," Faith chuckled some more and hopped up to sit on the pinball machine.

"Don't talk about her like that," Dawn replied through grit teeth, "She's dead."

"Yeah, I remember," Faith said, the playfulness in her voice had disappeared and her gaze fell to her hands in her lap. "I was a major player in that fight."

"Don't give yourself too much credit," Dawn mumbled, bitterly.

Faith looked up from her hands and for a moment Dawn could see in her eyes all the regret and demons the dark slayer was battling inside. Faith sighed, "How about a little credit? I know I've got the shady past goin against me, but come on. I've been working hard at this redemption thing. Can't I get some props, or a good job?"

"You want to be complimented on not murdering people," Dawn said grimly.

"Well, yeah. I got all this hot and heavy darkness brewing inside and I've been keeping it all tightly wrapped up. Do you know how hard that is?"

"No, I honestly don't. I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable being alone with you, though," Dawn laughed, nervously.

Dawn began to walk away, but Faith held her wrist, lightly. "I know you don't trust me, Dawn, but there was a time that you did. A very brief time, mind you. I'm going to do what it takes to get that back."

Dawn's expression softened and she shook her head, "I'm not the one you need to win over. If you're going to put any effort into anything, do it for Buffy. She's the one you turned your back on. You're not going to get to her by going through me."

Her grip tightened on Dawn's wrist, "That wasn't what I was trying to do."

"I know," Dawn whispered, "But when it comes to you, Faith, I trust Buffy's instincts."

"You didn't when you made me leader and booted Buffy from the house," Faith said, letting go of her wrist.

Dawn's eyes fell to the ground and shame filled her voice, "Buffy needed a break. She had lost perspective. You were just… convenient."

With that, Dawn turned on her heel and left Faith alone in the dark arcade room.

"I'm sick of being convenient."

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><p>Dawn was sick of the crumby motel they had been staying in for the past week and a half. After Sunnydale was erased from the map, it had seemed like they were free. Free from the Hellmouth, or at least they had managed to close one of them. Now there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of slayers all over the world and Buffy no longer needed to keep the weight of the world on her shoulders alone.<p>

Secretly, she had hoped that Buffy would pack it in, at least partially. Dawn wanted to settle down and live a normal life, because so far, there had not been anything normal about it. She was still trying to wrap her brain around the fact that she had really only been alive for three years, despite all the memories that she, and everyone else, had of her.

She remembered being held hostage with her mother, by Faith when she had suddenly woke up from her coma. She could remember sitting beside her mother on her mother's bed, as Faith played dress up with her make up. The fear was so great that she had started trembling, but still she was trying so hard to pretend that she was not. She could still feel the light caress of her cheek as Faith's fingers lightly brushed Dawn's long hair back behind her ear and asked her if she liked to play with her mother's make up too.

She did not understand how it could be that the memory was not real. If she had not been there, then what really happened? Was it only her mother on the bed? Did Faith brush her mother's hair behind her ear?

_Eww_, Dawn cringed. Somehow, that seemed worse.

So now, here they were, in butt-ass no-where's-ville. A town about half the size of Sunnydale, that consisted of a few mom-and-pop shops, the motel they were staying at and a church. It had only one cemetery that seemed proportional to the size of the town; which meant even the vampires did not bother coming here.

They had only traveled about fifty miles on the school bus, before they found the town and decided to stop to attempt to patch up the wounded. The next town was still another hour away and Giles did not think they could all make it that long. They had found a small town doctor's office, where Dr. Samuel Jameson almost choked on his chicken leg when he saw the bus pull up and unload the injured in front of his house/office.

Most of the slayers had already begun to heal, so even if their wounds had seemed life threatening before, their status had already been upgraded to going to be just fine. However, those that did not have the slayer blessing, or curse, were in worse shape. Robin Wood was at the topic of the critical list. He was conscious, but just barely, and so he was treated first. Andrew had been inflicted with a small wooden splinter and had been begging for someone to kill him because the pain was too much. Xander had mustered up all of his manliness and punched him in the face, knocking him out. Many of the girls thanked him, but his thoughts had been on Anya and he hardly noticed.

After Dr. Jameson gave Robin the best patch up he could, he told them that Robin would need to go to a real hospital. There was internal damage that would need surgery to repair and Giles took the bus and drove Robin to Los Angeles. She had not seen or heard from Giles in the week since he left them there, but she assumed that he had talked to Buffy. Faith had opted not to go on the journey to sit at Robin's bedside, and he seemed to be quite hurt and confused by it. Faith did not seem to notice. Now that they had stopped another apocalypse, the sexual excitement of their fate's uncertainty was gone and Faith's interest seemed to be disappearing as well.

A few more slayers had found them, claiming to have some kind of force drawing them there, but none of the new slayers had met the fabled Buffy yet. She had locked herself in her room when she got there and had not been seen since.

They had about fifty slayers, all packed into the fourteen cheap rooms they had been renting and Dawn was not sure where the money for all this was coming from. She knew Buffy certainly could not be the one paying for all this, but she did have her suspicions that Willow was working some sort of magicks to make it work.

Buffy and Faith each had their own rooms and Willow was sharing with Kennedy, but Dawn was cramped into a room with two double beds, with Xander, Andrew, and two other slayers and it was not especially fun. Except for the part with her staying in the same room as Xander. The crush that had seemed to dissipate for awhile had returned in full force after he had given her the speech about her being extraordinary when she had thought for a split second, that she was a potential slayer. Unfortunately, they were not alone in the room, and Dawn had her suspicions that Andrew was trying to hog Xander for himself. She decided that the next time Willow came up for air from Kennedy, she would ask her to work some mojo and get her a room she could share with Xander.

Dawn stopped in front of Buffy's door on the way to her own room and decided enough was enough. She had never signed up for sharing a room with four other people in a motel room that seemed barely built for two. Dawn knocked lightly on Buffy's door and waited a few seconds for a response before knocking louder a second time.

"Buffy, please talk to me. Let me come in and see you," Dawn pleaded. She missed her sister, not to mention she was still a little worried about Buffy's stab wound. "I need you."

She heard some movement from within the room and then Dawn could hear the sounds of the chain lock being removed and the turning of the deadbolt. The door opened and a very tired looking Buffy poked her head out.

"What is it," her voice raspy from disuse.

"Uh, I miss my sister. It's been a week since you've locked yourself in this room, never to be seen again," Dawn complained.

"Sorry, Dawnie," Buffy breathed with a fatigued sigh, "I guess I lost track of time."

"It's unhealthy to lose track of this much time and alone," Dawn protested.

Buffy walked back into her room, but left the door open, inviting her younger sister in. "I've just been so tired."

"Did you know I'm stuck in a room with four other people and I have to share a bed with Xander and Andrew," Dawn complained, "And Andrew still thinks girls have cooties so Xander has to sleep in the middle to separate us!"

"That's awful," Buffy said, but there was no emotion or feeling in her voice. Dawn could not even tell if she was listening to a word she was saying.

"You don't even care," Dawn growled with tears beginning to well in her eyes.

"Of course I do," Buffy said unconvincingly and collapsed back onto her motel bed. The covers were scattered all over the bed, indicating that she had been spending a lot of time in there.

"Why are we still here," Dawn screamed at her. "I hate it here, I want to leave."

"Where are we suppose to go, Dawn," Buffy yelled back and for the first time showed true feeling in her voice, "Giles is still in LA with our only mode of transportation and even if he was here, where are we supposed to go? We don't have a home anymore, so where would you like to go?"

"I don't know, but somewhere," Dawn cried, the tears spilling out and flowing down her cheeks, "I want a normal life."

"So did I," Buffy spat the words back at her, sitting up on the bed and glaring at her, "That's all I've ever wanted."

"So you were born with a destiny," Dawn said, "Get over it."

"Get over it," Buffy repeated the words, anger filling her voice. She walked over towards her sister so that they were an inch apart and then said coldly, "You're not even real."

Dawn's mouth dropped open, but she could not make a sound. Instead she slapped Buffy hard across the face and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

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><p>Buffy rubbed her sore cheek. She had to admit, her sister definitely had some power behind her blows for a normal girl, if she could call her that. She grabbed a handful of ice from her ice bucket and held it to her stinging cheek. She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, letting the water drip off her chin, after the ice melted, into the sink.<p>

"What did you do," Faith asked as she threw open the door, slamming it behind her similar to what her sister had just done and making her way to the bathroom, where she stood leaning against the door frame.

"Hello, Faith. Come on in," Buffy groaned, rolling her eyes and tossing the small chips of ice that had not finished melting into the sink.

"Don't mind if I do," Faith smiled slyly and took an ice cube from the bucket, "Now, what did you do to the kid?"

"Mind your own business," Buffy said bitterly. "It's sister stuff."

"I think it stopped being _sister stuff_ when your sister ran from your room bawling her pretty little eyes out," Faith said, pausing to suck on a corner of the cube before continuing, "I think you really broke her heart."

"She'll get over it," Buffy said emotionless, checking out her red cheek in the mirror. "It's not like I haven't let her down before."

"Cut the kid some slack, she's been through a lot," Faith said, trailing the ice on the top of her chest and then dipping it in between her breasts. The top of her white tank top grew increasingly transparent as the ice melted and dampened it, revealing hints of her black bra beneath.

Buffy glanced over towards Faith and watched as goose bumps began to spread across her chest as she continued to spread the ice cube across her skin. Buffy turned away quickly as she felt a slight shiver travel through her body. "What are you doing?"

Faith, oblivious to Buffy's reaction to her, sucked on the ice cube for a few more seconds before tossing it into the sink and replying, "We're hitting record heat temperatures here and I'm hot. I gotta cool down somehow."

"And why do you have to do that here," Buffy grumbled, running a brush through her long, tangled, blonde hair for the first time in a week.

"I'm bored," Faith said with a shrug. She moved closer to Buffy and they both watched each other through the mirror. "I'm bored, I'm hot and I'm horny," and with the last few words, Faith laid her hands down on the bathroom counter, on either side of Buffy, locking her in place. She pressed herself against Buffy's back and moved her lips to Buffy's ear, all the while looking her straight in the eyes, "You game?"

Buffy held Faith's lustful stare until Faith took one hand off the counter and pressed it firmly on Buffy's hip, trailing it slowly over her lower abdomen and teasingly allowing only the tips of her fingers to disappear under the waist band of her low-rise jeans. Buffy's head rolled back onto Faith's shoulder, her eyes slipped shut and her mouth fell open slightly as Faith's fingers lightly brushed the top of her panties. She pushed back against Faith so that their bodies were flush against one another; Faith's front pressed tightly against Buffy's back. She brought her hands back behind her and grasped Faith's butt and Faith nuzzled her cheek with her nose. Buffy began to move her bottom against Faith's crotch gyrating in a silent dance, causing Faith to let out a soft, low grunt showing the affect it was having on her.

"Is this what you want," Buffy whispered, clutching Faith's butt tighter.

"Hell yeah," Faith breathed, her hips following Buffy's lead on their own.

Buffy turned in Faith's arms to face her and moved her lips a breath away from the dark slayer's and whispered in a husky voice, "In your dreams."

With those words Buffy shoved her back against the wall and walked out of the bathroom. Stunned, Faith stood there motionless for a moment before finally recollecting herself, "Oh come on."

"I'm not interested, Faith," Buffy said, returning to her bed. "I'm not gay."

"I'm not gay either," Faith assured her, "It's pure sex. We need it to survive and since the only two guys around here are one I've done and one who's playing for the other team, I gotta improvise."

"Improvise with someone else. I'm not interested," Buffy said, firmly.

"Fine, it looks like the brat is begging for her first time anyway," Faith shrugged and began to head towards the door.

Buffy leaped up from her bed and grabbed Faith's arm roughly, "Leave my sister alone."

"Relax," Faith chuckled, breaking free of her hold and lightly pushing her aside, "I'm just playin with you, B."

"I'm so not in the mood, Faith," Buffy growled, bawling up her fists at her side.

Faith glanced down at Buffy's fists and leaned back a little, crossing her arms, "Are we throwing down? Cause that'll just leave me even more sexually frustrated."

"God, you're like a guy," Buffy said shaking her head, "Don't you ever think about anything else?"

Faith thought for a moment, "Food, but the kitchen's closed."

"Get out," Buffy sighed, opening the door to her room.

Faith did not budge. She looked at the open door way and then back at Buffy, "We both know you need a little action. We had one hell of a fight a week ago and you haven't had anyone to get your rocks off with."

Buffy grabbed Faith by the shoulders roughly and pushed her out the door, slamming it and locking the dead bolt behind her.

"When you go back to bed and you're lying there, you're not gonna be able to sleep cause all you can think of is me, B," she could hear Faith yell out through the door. She could even hear the big grin she was sure Faith was wearing.

"Get a life," Buffy said softly, crawling back into bed and shutting her eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, clearing her mind of all that had happened, not just tonight, but her entire life.

Her body still hummed from her close contact with Faith and before she even realized it, her hand had travelled down her body and into her panties. In truth, she had not felt so alive in a long time.

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><p><strong>Please take a moment to give some feedback on my first chapter.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, instead of studying for my exams, I ended up writing this. Now I really won't be able to update again for a week, cause I gotta cram hardcore. My last exam is Friday and I will do my best to finish the next part next weekend. Hope you like...**

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><p>Faith was trying to calm down her raging hormones as she was walking back to her room, when she noticed a figure on the ground, slumped against her motel room door. She quickened her pace praying that it was not a body dump, as she really did not need attention directed to the escaped convict that she was, but as she got closer she could see that it was Dawn sobbing into her hands. Faith bit the side of her cheek nervously and cursed under her breath. She hated it when girls cried. She never knew what to say, other than what her mom always told her, which was to suck it up. She was also fully aware that in her current state, it was not the best idea to be helping out forbidden virgins.<p>

"I think y' got the wrong room," Faith said casually, making sure to stay a few steps away while her hormones were still having a party.

"I can't go to mine," Dawn replied with a sniffle, wiping her dripping nose on knee, which made Faith make a mental _Eww_. "I don't want them to see me like this."

"What about Willow," Faith suggested hopefully, "she's like a mom to you, right?"

"She's busy with Kennedy," Dawn answered, "They're having a sex-a-thon."

Faith sighed and then mumbled, "If your sis wasn't such a prude I'd be doin the nasty too."

"Huh," Dawn asked, her brow furrowed in confusion as she looked up at Faith with big innocent eyes.

"Nothing, D," Faith shook her head as she took her room key from her pocket and opened the door.

Dawn got to her feet, but looked inside the room nervously and motionless as if she was unsure if she really wanted to go in or not.

"You coming in," Faith asked, as she brushed past her into the room, "Or you gonna just stand there and drip snot all night?"

She self-consciously wiped her wet nose again, this time with the back of her hand, before slowly taking the couple steps into the room. Faith shut the door behind her and then realized that Dawn had become a statue again, "What's with you?"

Dawn looked over at the queen size bed. It was like her mothers, only the motel's comforter pattern was about thirty years outdated and it probably housed a few diseases, but she could still see her and her mom, sitting on that bed, while Faith had kept them hostage. She had been so scared and yet, deep down, there was something else she had felt, something…

"Earth to D," Faith called out, shoving her slightly, "You have some kind of traumatic event?"

"A long time ago," Dawn whispered, more to herself than to Faith. She knew Faith was supposedly reformed, but she had not spent any real alone time with her since before her prison trip. The fear that Faith had instilled in her when she was just thirteen and fourteen still burned fiercely in her memories, even if those memories had been fabrications of the monks who created her. No matter how hard she tried to push them aside and give Faith a chance, there was always a voice in the back of her head telling her to keep her distance and at any moment she could turn on her.

"What are you talking about," Faith asked, opening the mini bar and taking out several small bottles of hard alcohol, "Jack, Johnny, or Jose?"

"What," Dawn asked, snapping out of her memories.

"This looks like a job for Jose," Faith nodded, then unscrewed the cap to the bottle of tequila. She took a quick sip before screwing the cap back on and tossing it at the younger girl, who fumbled but still managed to catch it.

"I'm not allowed to-," Dawn started, but then changed her mind and took a big gulp. She made a sour face and gagged as the liquid burned its way down her throat then looked back up at Faith, "If Buffy knew you were getting her little sister drunk, she'd kill you."

Faith thought for a minute then replied, "I think Buffy's got her own shit going on right now."

"Well it's still illegal, I'm only seventeen. That's still like four more years until, I'm really allowed to," Dawn countered, taking another painful sip.

"You're just itchin' to do somethin' bad, aren't you," Faith said, eyeing her as she sat back on her bed.

"So," Dawn said with a shrug, feeling the need to impress Faith, "I can be bad. You know I used to steal stuff."

Faith rolled her eyes, "Do you want me to give you a medal? Or call you lil miss bad ass or somethin'?"

"I do other bad things," Dawn said softly, but there was determination in her voice as she came to stand at the foot of the bed, where Faith sat.

Faith could see the look in her eyes, it was a look that she had something to prove and despite her hormones, which were now on overdrive, she decided to show Dawn what being bad was about. She swiftly rose to her feet, startling Dawn into taking a few steps back and then pushed her back into the wall, hard. Dawn let out a startled cry but she did not speak, mostly because her brain could not formulate a thought.

"You want to be bad," Faith asked, her lips threateningly close to Dawn's, and she brought a hand up to grasp Dawn's neck. "This is how you want your first time?"

Dawn glared at her and tried to stand her ground, "How do you know it's my first time?"

Faith took her free hand and grabbed Dawn's crotch, watching her response. She could see a quick flash of fear in Dawn's eyes and Faith shut her own eyes, then backed away from her. "I can tell. Look, right now I got an inner battle royale smack down with my hormones and I don't trust myself with you. You should go."

"No," Dawn whined, gathering her confidence back, "Please, I'm sorry. Let me stay."

Faith grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels and downed it before looking back at her, "Okay, but this is a hands off zone or I really will lose control and I been workin' hard on this redemption thing. The last thing I need is to fall for jailbait."

Dawn nodded obediently, then as Faith's words sunk in she smiled and bit her lip, "So I turn you on?"

"Your sister turned me on," Faith sighed, pulling another small bottle out of the mini bar, "You just kept me going."

"Buffy," Dawn asked confused, it was not that she could not see Faith going after her sister, but it was hard for her to imagine that Buffy reciprocated any of those kinds of feelings, especially since she had spent so much energy hating Faith for so long. Then again, Buffy seemed to be attracted to those she hated.

"Forget I said that," Faith said, drinking half of the next bottle and falling back onto the bed.

"Everyone loves Buffy," Dawn mumbled, bitterly.

"Don't need to tell me that," Faith replied, downing the rest of the bottle and tossing it on the ground, "I used to think I was just jealous of the girl. Perfect friends, perfect life, and perfect former boyfriend."

Dawn laid down on the bed beside her, beginning to feel more comfortable with her, "And now, you're in love with her?"

"Whoa, back it up," Faith laughed, "I ain't in love with no one. I just think her butt looks cute in blue jeans and wonder what it looks like without the blue-."

"Okay, okay," Dawn yelled quickly, cutting her off, "God, that's my sister."

"Sorry lil D," Faith laughed, "Don't worry, you'll find yourself a cute boy toy soon enough."

Dawn took a few more sips of her tequila and then tossed it aside before saying softly, "Hey Faith?"

"Yea," Faith asked, closing her eyes and realizing just how tired she was.

"Do you think I could sleep here with you tonight," she asked, nervously looking down at her fingers.

"Sure, as long as you don't try anything," Faith smirked, "If anything happened, B really would kill me and I ain't got no friends who would bring me back from the dead."

"Oh yea, because I can't help myself around you," Dawn replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I know, it's a curse, people just can't help falling in love with me."

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><p>Faith awoke early the next morning and the first thing that occurred to her was that she was not alone. She opened her eyes slowly to find Dawn tucked under her arm. The brat had the hints of a smile tickling the sides of her lips and Faith regretted the fact that she was going to inevitably disrupt her as she got up from the bed. She slid away from Dawn as carefully as she could, but even with slayer stealth, Dawn stirred anyway and cracked open an eye.<p>

"I liked it better with you in bed," Dawn groaned, still half asleep and not thinking too clearly about her words.

"Sorry to disappoint, but ya better get used to it," Faith replied, shamelessly stripping off her dirty tank top and jeans leaving her in her bra and panties. "Go back to sleep. I gotta shower."

Dawn watched Faith's body move to the bathroom and close the door behind her. She took a whiff of the tank top she was wearing and realized that she was in need of a change of clothes as well. Sliding off the bed, she grabbed Faith's room key laying on the night table, and quietly slipped out of the room. She hurried back to her own room and stalked into it as silently as she had slipped out of the other.

Inside her room, two slayers slept in one bed silently, while Andrew and Xander slept in the other. Andrew had an armed wrapped around Xander, much like how Faith had been holding her earlier, and both were snoring lightly. Dawn tiptoed across the room, grabbed a set of clothes out of her suitcase and then quietly slipped into the bathroom. She left the door open a crack so that she would not make any noise when it closed fully, and quickly began to change into her clean clothes.

"Where have you been all night," she heard Xander whisper sleepily from the other side of the door.

Startled, Dawn let out a high pitched squeak and wrapped her arms around her body to shield herself from view, even though she was still wearing her bra and jeans. "You better not be looking through that crack," she whispered back angrily, although most of the anger was because he had startled her and not because he could be watching her changing.

"I wouldn't," Xander yawned, "Besides, I'm too tired to even open my eye. Now back to the first and extremely important question."

"I was with Faith," Dawn said, quickly changing into her clean clothes and throwing the door open. Her breath caught when she found Xander was shirtless with a pair of dark sweatpants hanging low on his hips and all coherent thoughts left her brain.

"Faith," Xander questioned, his eye fully open in surprise, "What were you doing with her?"

Dawn managed to recollect herself and she shrugged, "I just had a bad night and she was there."

"She didn't-" Xander started, but he found himself not wanting to finish that question.

"Still a virgin," Dawn sighed, "It wasn't like that anyway."

"Good," Xander nodded and she could see the relief wash over him, "Very good. Because even though you may not be- I mean you may think you're not- and then she- Faith's really good at making you think that you're- and then before you know it you're standing outside, wearing nothing but a motel blanket, and you're suddenly not a virgin anymore."

"Xander," Dawn giggled, but said his name lovingly, "Faith isn't trying to get me into bed. Well, we were in bed, but we didn't do anything."

Xander quickly shot his pointer finger upwards, "That's what she wants you to think. But then suddenly she's tightly wound up from a slay and needs a release and-"

"Stop," Dawn said quickly, pressing her hand against his mouth, "You're sharing way too many details that I really don't need to know."

She removed her hand from his mouth once she was sure that he had conquered the urge to bring up anymore personal information and they stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither moving or speaking. Dawn wanted to pull him into the bathroom and have her way with him, but she knew he still saw her as a kid and she also knew he was still dealing with Anya's death. Not to mention, being the younger sister of the slayer not only earned the perks of being kidnapped by vampires as bait, but also struck fear in the hearts of potential suitors. She was sure that Xander would always consider her forbidden fruit as long as Buffy was there to cast threatening glares at any who approached her little sister. At least with Faith she felt desirable. She could see Faith battling her urges every time Dawn got close to her and even if she was second to Buffy, Faith still managed to make her feel like she was first.

"Xander, the bed feels all lopsided when you're not in it," she heard Andrew's whiny voice call out and Xander smacked himself in the forehead.

"Your boyfriend is calling," Dawn said, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't even joke, Dawn," Xander shook his head, "Be safe, okay? Faith is not someone you want to trust. No one really knows what is going on inside her head except Faith."

"I know," she agreed. She did know that and she trusted Faith about as far as she could throw her, but she had to admit that sleeping with her last night and waking up with her in the morning, it felt good. In fact, she had gotten the best sleep she had had since the potentials had moved in and taken over her room.

Xander gave her a big hug and a kiss on the forehead and said, "I promise things will get better."

Dawn smiled and nodded, but she did not really believe him. She turned to glance at herself in the mirror as he went back into the main room. She had a feeling things were just going to get worse.

"Ow," she heard Andrew wail from the other room and she imagined that Xander had given him a hard punch.

"Stop being such a nerd," Xander growled back, "And stay on your side of the bed."

* * *

><p>Faith was laying on the bed watching TV when Dawn used the key to get back into her room. Dawn stopped in her tracks when she saw that Faith was wearing nothing but a towel and her hair, still wet from her shower, dripped beads of water down her chest and arms.<p>

"And she's back," Faith noted keeping her eyes focused on the TV and Dawn could not pick up on any emotion as to whether Faith was pleased by this or disappointed.

"Uh, yea. I just needed to change my clothes. They were kinda smelly," Dawn laughed nervously and once again she found herself afraid to move into the room further.

Faith continued to watch TV for a few minutes before noticing Dawn had not moved from the doorway, "I thought we were over this? Didn't we do some kind of bonding last night or something? Have t'say you were my first."

"What," Dawn asked, once again confused. The fact that she could be a first anything for Faith was mind blowing, especially since nothing had happened.

"First time I let someone sleep in my bed the whole night," Faith chuckled, "I usually kick them out afterwards."

"Oh," Dawn replied with a smile and then found the courage to drop down on the bed beside Faith, "So how was your first time?"

The dark haired slayer stared at her sideways for a moment as if she was trying to find the right words and then answered with her own smile, "Didn't suck."

Dawn blushed and gave her a soft shove, which caused Faith's towel to slip a little lower down her breasts, revealing a good amount of cleavage, and Dawn felt her face go even warmer as she noticed. She quickly pulled her eyes away and tried to change the subject to get her mind off the half naked, wet slayer beside her. "So do you have any plans for today?"

"Tons," Faith nodded seriously, as her attention returned to the TV.

Dawn tried to contain her disappointment, since she had been hoping she would be able to spend the day with Faith and not another boring day trying to beat the pinball high scores, "What's up?"

"Well first I figured I'd head over to the diner an' grab some breakfast," Faith said, rubbing her stomach as if to emphasize her hunger, "Then I thought I'd teach ya a few things."

Dawn was sure that her entire face had now gone beet red. "What kinds of things?"

Faith noticed Dawn's deep red blush and held up her hands in defense, "No, you got me all wrong, D. I meant, give you a few pointers on your fighting skills. You got mad beginner skills, for a civilian anyway, and I thought I could just help you out with your technique. I mean one apocalypse diverted, an infinite number to go, right?"

"Oh, right," Dawn nodded, "No, that's totally what I thought you meant too."

"I know what you thought I meant, D," Faith said, lightly brushing a finger down Dawn's bare arm, "Looks like we both gotta work on keepin' our hormones in check."

Dawn could not help the shiver that charged through her body and she also could not help but notice that Faith's finger was still on her arm. When another moment past she looked over at Faith and found her staring hungrily at where their bodies were touching.

"Faith," Dawn questioned drawing out her name and wanting her to either increase the pressure or stop torturing her with light touches.

Tearing her attention away from Dawn's arm and pulling her finger away, Faith looked her in the eyes and said in a husky voice, "Sorry D. I just never really noticed how cute you are- and I'm just realizin' that shower I just took, shoulda been a cold one."

"You think I'm cute," Dawn blushed, self-consciously tucking her hair behind an ear.

Faith decided it was best not to answer that since she had already let it slip once, "I gotta get dressed."

Dawn watched her for a moment, but when she noticed that Faith was watching her and seemed to be waiting for something, she realized she was waiting for Dawn to turn around. "Oh, sorry," Dawn said, turning quickly to face the other side of the room.

"No offense," Faith replied, and Dawn could hear rustling behind her, along with the sound of a towel hitting the floor, "For the most part I don't care who sees my naked ass, but considering the sitch we got here, I don't wanna chance it leadin' t' something else."

"Of course," Dawn answered and tried to not sound at all disappointed. She was starting to feel like a moth drawn to the flame and Faith was that flame. She was a teenager, though, she told herself, these years were all about finding your identity and sexual exploration and she really wanted to start on that sexual exploration part. She was well aware that even her older sister had lost _it_ by now and it was with a vampire, so she figured that if she started out with a slayer, even if it was a former rogue slayer, she still got bonus points for her partner not being dead.

"Decent," Faith called out and Dawn was still half hoping to turn around and find a naked Faith behind her, but to her, not quite disappointment, she was fully clothed in a pair of skin tight black leather pants and a dark red halter top that had a low enough neck that her black bra peeked through. While Dawn was noticing, without trying to notice, how hot Faith looked in the leather pants, Faith had made her way to Dawn and suddenly had her hand down the front pocket of Dawn's jeans.

Not realizing what was happening, Dawn's eyes closed on their own volition and a humming sound escaped her lips. Faith's hand was gone as quick as it had come and when she opened her eyes again she saw Faith holding the room key.

"Just taking back what's mine," Faith smiled and gave her a wink, "Not that I mind you in my room, but I only got one an' I prefer it was with me. Were you just-"

"Uh, no," Dawn interrupted her quickly, searching her brain for an excuse, "I just- I'm still tired. Definitely didn't think you were trying something though. That would just be-"

"Plausible," Faith admitted, "But like I've been sayin', not such a good idea."

"I know," Dawn exclaimed, waving her hands, "It's not even like I'm like that. I'm so not at all like that."

Faith eyed her doubtfully and chuckled, "D, you're so young I bet you don't even know what you like. I been where you're at, hell I'm still where you're at. All I know is I like sex, doesn't matter if it's got boy packaging or girl packaging, it's all the same in the end. Best thing to do, is to not think about it too much."

Faith held out a hand to her and Dawn took it, allowing herself to be pulled up from the bed and she followed the dark haired slayer out of the room.

"Hey, I'll meet ya at the diner," Faith said, closing the door and locking it behind them, "Something I gotta do first."

"Sure," Dawn shrugged, pretending that she was not bothered by Faith blowing her off and not taking her on whatever errand she had to do. She turned and walked towards the diner and as she walked around the side of the motel, she stopped and peered back around the corner. She watched as Faith stopped in front of Buffy's motel door and banged on it loudly. She could see her talking, but could not hear anything she was saying, and then watched as Buffy's hand reached out, grabbed the front of Faith's halter top and yanked her into her room.

Dawn clenched her teeth tightly, as the jealousy washed over her. She guessed Faith would be different when she finally got to the diner, after she had gotten what she wanted from her sister.

It was all about Buffy. It always was.

* * *

><p><strong>Feedback is always greatly appreciated :)<strong>


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